My "No Plan" Birth Plan.

I love to plan. I love to be in control. I love to make lists and have things organized and in their right place at all times. So you would think that I would have a birth plan...Nope. Even with Peter I didn't have a plan. For some reason in my heart I just felt more at peace NOT having a plan. That is CRAZY for me, but it worked! With Peter, my plan was to go into the hospital and have a natural labor. However, I knew that Peter's health came first and I was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that. I didn't want to be induced and I didn't want a C-section but if that's what God had planned, I was at peace with it. As it turned out, I did need to be induced because of my pre-ecclampsia. I wrote a post for the Nameless blog with Peter's birth story, you can find it by clicking on the link. This time around I'm going into labor with the same mentality. I'm psyching myself up for natural labor but if the doctors tell me we need to take another route for baby James, I'm ok with that too.

James could come at anytime. While, my bags have been packed (and organized) for a couple weeks now, I know that the arrival of my baby boy is out of my hands. The best thing I can do right now is just trust in God and his plan for me and baby James. All women are different and all moms walk a different path when it comes to child birth. All paths are beautiful. Motherhood is not for the faint of heart, yet every woman has the power within her to be an amazing Mom. I found this quote that really sums up my approach to child birth...

"There is a secret in our culture and it's not that birth is painful. It's that women are strong." -Laura Stavoe Harm.

To all you expecting mommies out there...you can conquer labor!! If you want to make a plan, then make a plan! If you're like me, then don't make a plan! Just know that no matter what your labor story holds, you are tough enough to handle it. It doesn't matter if you're expecting your first or your tenth, this is your time! Home birth, water birth, midwife, doctor, c-section, natural, Vbac, epidural, planned or not planned...you were made for this.